Lemonstein said:
Monroville said:
Another thought on the DS2: don't know if this could be done, but what about only showing the superstructured area (from Han and Co. arriving to when the rebel fleet arrives) to make it look like the Empire has a long way to go to finish it.
When the rebel fleet show up and the Emperor says "now witness the firepower of a fully functional battle station!", the DS2 spins around to reveal the central laser dish and that side being completely finished (to provide a "holy shit!" moment). Hell, even if you didn't alter the appearance of the DS2, that would be cool to see regardless.
But surely if they know that the DS2 exists and have its plans then there is a high probability they know how much of it has been constructed - even if they don't know it's working (as it is in the film already). I don't buy that they'd be that easily fooled - this is a 3D environment they're all flying around in. The DS2 would have to remain facing away from every rebel ship at every moment for such concealment to work. If the firing crater were hidden from the outside and made to look like the normal surface of the station that might work, but just to have it facing away isn't enough.
Also keep in mind this is the STAR WARS universe, where killing one man brings down an entire empire that spans a galaxy. Besides:
(1) the plans could be rigged to show the DS2 as less complete than it really is.
(2) only those working on the physical construction of the DS2 would know, as it is supposed to be a secret.
(3) the rebel fleet all emerges from one jump point, not from all directions.
and most importantly:
(4) it would be primarily a visual thing to represent the visual aspect of something thought to be damn near nothing but superstructure is in actuality 60%+ finished, and finished enough to wipe out every last rebel. STAR WARS isn't STAR TREK, which itself has some issues with the laws of physics... though STAR TREK "has" to be fairly accurate (or accurate enough) as it depicts a human future. STAR WARS is science fantasy, with laser swords and talking bigfeet. As with most mythical stories, symbolism and visuals play a big part in the storytelling to emphasize a point.
The main reason for the suggestion was to visualize what the Emperor says so it is not just the DS shooting the super laser, but having it turning around to reveal the super laser for the first time, complete and ready to use. Granted, we have hindsight, having seen the movie already, but imagine seeing this as a 13 year old kid in a theater for the first time and seeing something that looks like nothing but model parts turn around and reveal for the first time the Death Star we all know and fear.
You know, I think that is one of the biggest problems with JEDI is how everything is just kinda there... no build-ups or crafty reveals.. everything just sort of happens. It is almost as if George was just going through the motions and didn't really care anymore.
BINGO: don't know how easy it would be to do, but maybe a CG texture could be added to the "plain" paneled parts of the DS2 to give it the look in the painting.